Narco Singer Quintanilla Shot

The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department in Texas is searching for suspects in the murder of narco corridos singer Jesus “Chuy” Quintanilla April 25, whose body was found near an orchard.

Quintanilla was discovered lying in a pool of blood near his vehicle outside Mission, Texas, by farm workers at about 6:50 a.m. He’d been shot at least twice in the head.

The singer’s family had filed a missing persons report that morning because they hadn’t had any contact with him since the previous night when he went out about 8 p.m. to meet someone, according to The Monitor.

There are no suspects and the investigation is ongoing.

Quintanilla, a former state and federal police officer prior to his musical career, recorded albums of a regional Mexican music genre known as corridos (ballads), that began as a way to immortalize the battles in the Mexican War of Independence from Spain but later evolved to illustrate every day life of different generations.

The performer was reportedly best known for composing narco corridos songs about Mexican cartels, specifically the Gulf Cartel and its alleged former enforcers, the Zetas, the paper said.

Investigators are said to be looking into any connection to those songs as a possible motive for the murder. Corridos singers have previously been targets of drug traffickers who were less-than-thrilled by how they were portrayed in song, some murdered.

The Monitor also said authorities are investigating the disappearance of one of Quintanilla’s relatives, a law enforcement official in Tamaulipas, Mexico, who’s been missing for more than a month.